March 11, 2014
TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 27 Penn State men's tennis team dropped a 4-3 result against #47 the University of South Florida on Tuesday in Tampa at the USF Varsity Tennis Courts. The Nittany Lions won the doubles point with victories at No. 2 and No. 3 doubles. Penn State also won two singles matches. The match came down to the battle at No. 1 singles, but Penn State could not get the win. The Nittany Lions fell to 11-2. The Bulls improved to 9-3 this spring.
The new ITA rankings were also released on Tuesday. In the team rankings, Penn State moved up four spots to No. 27 as the Nittany Lions continue to set new marks for highest ranking in school history. Sophomore Leonard Stakhovsky (Kiev, Ukraine) rose to 47th in the singles poll. Stakhovsky and senior Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) made their debut in the doubles poll, coming in at No. 45.
It marks the first time that Penn State has been represented in all three polls since May 3, 2010.
"This was a great collegiate tennis match between two very good teams," said Head Coach Jeff Zinn. "We were one point away. We had a match point to win the entire match and it didn't go our way, we missed it by an inch."
"We lost the match in the tiebreaker. There's nothing to be disappointed about, we had it on our racket and, unfortunately, our player missed the shot, but he went for it and that's all I can ask for."
Michael Reilly (Raleigh, N.C.) and Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) paired up at No. 2 doubles against Oliver Pramming and Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz, ranked 69th in the nation. The Penn State duo earned an 8-5 win to pick up their seventh-straight win.
At No. 3 doubles, David Kohan (Sydney, Australia) and Christian Lutschaunig (Richboro, Pa.) faced Everth Dzib and Vadym Kalyuzhnyy. In a tough battle, Kohan and Lutschaunig came out on top, 8-7(1), to clinch the doubles point for Penn State. They claimed their eighth win this spring.
At the top doubles spot, Bader and Stakhovsky took on Roberto Cid and Sasha Gozun, ranked 24th in the ITA Poll. The match was tied 7-7 and going to a tiebreaker when the match was stopped.
With the win, Penn State has now won the doubles point in 12 of 13 matches.
Freshman Alex Fennell (Bala Cynwyd, Pa.) competed against Kalyuzhnyy in the No. 3 singles match. Fennell earned a straight-set win, 6-2, 6-1. He improved to 11-2 this spring and won his 10th straight match.
At the fifth singles spot, Matt Barry (Lido Beach, N.Y.) took on Gonzalez-Muniz. The sophomore took the first set, 6-3, but Gonzalez-Muniz responded with a 6-1 win in the third set. In the third set, Barry trailed 2-1 early, but battled back to win the set, 7-5. Barry improved to 8-1 this spring and 17-5 overall.
Russell Bader met Pramming in the singles match at No. 2. The Austin, Texas native fell 6-2, 6-1 against Pramming. Bader is now 11-2 this spring.
Sophomore Roman Trkulja (Toronto, Canada) matched up against Gozun in the fourth singles match. In a close first set, Gozun came out on top, 7-5. In the second set, Gozun kept his momentum going, winning 6-2. Trkulja dropped to 6-6 this spring.
Marc Collado Castells (Barcelona, Spain) met Federico Sabogal in the No. 6 match. Castells fell 6-2, 6-4. He is now 7-4 in dual matches and 15-10 overall.
The match came down to the battle at the top singles spot, Stakhovsky faced a ranked opponent for the third-straight match, this time against Cid, ranked 65th. The sophomore won the first set, 6-2. In the second set, Cid earned a 6-4 win. In the third set, Stakhovsky rallied from down 2-1 to tie it at 5-5 and led at 6-5, but Cid tied it back up at 6-6. In the tiebreaker, Cid won 8-6 to take the match and clinch the match point for the Bulls.
"It was a disappointing loss considering we had many opportunities in certain spots to close it out," said Assistant Coach Paul Tobin. "USF fought hard and we give them credit for closing it out. It was our first outdoor match this year and it was hot today. It was a good test to get us ready for our outdoor season."
The Nittany Lions will look to bounce back on Thursday as they take on #62 UCF at 11 a.m. and Southern Miss at 4 p.m. in Orlando.
"All of our players, I thought, for our first match outside, we played very hard, we played with a lot of fight," said Zinn. "Unfortunately we lost, but that's going to happen against really good teams. We'll learn from it and come back ready to play on Thursday against another quality opponent in Central Florida."
Please check back to GoPSUSports.com throughout the week for more coverage of the Penn State men's tennis team. Fans can also look for updates on our Facebook, Penn State Men's Tennis, and Twitter, @pennstateMTEN, pages.
Doubles:
1. #45 Bader/Stakhovsky(PSU) vs. #24 Cid/Gozun(USF), 7-7, unfinished.
2. Reilly/Young(PSU) def. #69 Pramming/Gonzalez-Muniz(USF), 8-5.
3. Kohan/Lutschaunig(PSU) def. Dzib/Kalyuzhnyy(USF), 8-7(1).
Order of Finish: 2,3
Singles:
1. #65 Roberto Cid(USF) def. #47 Leo Stakhovsky(PSU), 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(6).
2. Oliver Pramming(USF) def. Russell Bader(PSU), 6-2, 6-1.
3. Alex Fennell(PSU) def. Vadym Kalyuzhnyy(USF), 6-1, 6-2.
4. Sasha Gozun(USF) def. Roman Trkulja(PSU), 7-5, 6-2.
5. Matt Barry(PSU) def. Ignacio Gonzalez-Muniz(USF), 6-3, 1-6, 7-5.
6. Federico Sabogal(USF) def. Marc Collado Castells(PSU), 6-2, 6-4.
Order of Finish: 3,2,4,6,5,1